Wednesday, January 25, 2017

The secret's in the simmering sauce...

What to write?

Last night, while bemoaning the blog needing to be written for
Wednesday, a friend suggested the analogy of a pot roast—how
starting out with something simple (i.e. the chuck roast) and adding
one’s own touches (i.e. dry onion soup mix, baby carrots, green
beans, and new potatoes), then simmering and stirring, magically
transforms the ‘something simple’ into something spectacular.

This morning I’m reminded of the words of St. Francis de Sales,
Doctor of the Church and patron saint of writers:

Here you have the same old flowers, but the bouquet is new,

simply because I have arranged it differently.

Simmering ideas

And so it is with all writing, from full-length novels to short
blogs—you start with something simple (the idea), and then you add
the plot twists, the characters, and the action, and ultimately you
end up with a finished product that is, hopefully, the next best
thing to a New York Times bestseller! The stirring and
simmering, of course, comes with rewriting and editing—as long as
it takes for the pot roast to be done—as long as it takes for the
story to be truly finished to perfection.

I have a head full of ideas—and a filing cabinet ditto. That’s
the beginning. Just as I take particular care with seasoning my pot
roast, I am careful to select character names which match the traits
I want to give them—the plot twists which will make the story both
interesting and believable—the grande finale which will
satisfy the most discerning palate and the pickiest reader.

Ruthann’s War began
with the simple family fact of someone who married a man old enough
to be her father—in fact, he was only a few years younger as Drew
is six years younger than Ruthann’s father. I chose the post-Wolrld
War II era since it’s the one in which I grew up, and I further
refined the setting to that of a school community since as a retired
teacher I know a little about that.

Of
course, I had to insert a hint of mystery (is there really a ghost in
the school bell tower?) because I like to craft inexplicable
circumstances with which my characters have to deal. There are
certain types of people I enjoy villainizing—which I probably
shouldn’t—but I do it anyway.

Real-life characters

I
like to show characters dealing with challenges, and so far I’ve
covered blindness, Down Syndrome, a cerebral palsy-like difficulty,
neglected children, struggling single parents, unfaithful
spouses,
and—in Ruthann’s War—a
man with a devastating war injury which will result in the loss of a
limb. I also think it’s important to work in the issue stupidity in
classifying people due to race, economic status, and religion. These
are current issues which (should) concern all of us.

Returning
to St. Francis’ observation, flowers are flowers—stories are
stories—but the perception all depends on how one arranges the
stems in the vase or the words on the page.

And
it’s definitely a challenge to come up with something new!

A peek inside

“...I’m sorry I put you in this position, but for your
sake, not mine. I know it’s been only seven weeks, Ruthann, but
knowing you has changed my life.”

“We’ve just fought one war,” she interrupted. “Maybe
I’m still fighting mine. Fighting to find out who I am and what I
want in life. That’s enough battle for me.”

“You’ll fight many battles in your life unless, of course,
you manage to live in complete isolation.”

She sighed. “I did sound rather dramatic, didn’t I?”

He took her cold hand between his warm ones. “No. Maybe just
a tad bit sorry for yourself, and I can relate. The idea of not
seeing you again makes me feel quite sorry for myself.”

New from The Wild Rose
Press

World War II has ended, but now Ruthann faces a fight for her futurewith a man she never meant to love...